Listen to a short Jewish story about simple faith and prayer during a drought and a simple merchant’s scales.
ST12 The Merchant and the Scales
Category: justice
ST11 A Rock and the King’s Greatness
Can a person be punished for injuring the king if he does not understand the greatness and power of the king?
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Alexander the Great and a Fair Judgment
Alexander the Great set out across the Mountains of Darkness led by a certain pearl that gave light before him. Now the king of the lands to be found there came to meet Alexander and honored him greatly, and did whatever he desired. One day as the two kings sat together with their crowns on their heads, two men appeared before the king. And one of them said to him: “By your leave, my lord, I purchased a certain piece of land from this man and wished to erect a building on it. When I began digging, I found a very great treasure hidden there. So I said to him: ‘Take you the treasure because I only purchased the land from you, but the treasure I did not buy.’ “
Then the other said to the king: “By your leave, my lord, when I sold my land I sold him all that was to be found therein from the nethermost deeps to the heights of the sky. And just as he does not wish to rob or steal, so I too do not wish to rob or steal.”
Then the king said to one of them: “Have you a son?” “Yes, my lord,” said he. And he asked the other: “Have you a daughter?” And he answered: “Yes, my lord.”
Then the king said: “Give your son to his daughter, and give the whole treasure to both of them!” And so they did.
Alexander laughed, for it seemed strange to him. “Why are you laughing?” the king asked him. “Have I not judged well? Have I not done well?” Then Alexander answered: “You have judged well and done well. But in my kingdom I would not have judged in that way.” “And how would you have judged?” asked the king; and Alexander said: “If it had happened in my kingdom, the king would have slain them both and taken all the money.”
Then the king of those lands said to him in astonishment: “Does the sun shine in your kingdom?” “Yes,” said he. And the king asked again: “Do you have cattle and sheep and goats in your kingdom?” “Yes,” said he. Then the king said to him: “It is only because of the cattle that the people live and find sustenance.” Just as it is written: “Man and beast the L-rd will aid” (Psalms 36:7).
Based on Sefer Alexander haMokdoni
Y. Bava Metzia 118c and Bava Metzia 32b
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)
Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us
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A True and Righteous Judgment
The ancient kings used to put on plain, dirty, mended clothes, to disguise themselves from their subjects, and would then go forth to see what was being done in their country. As the ancient law taught, “You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor favour the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbour.” (Leviticus 19:15)
Once, the king of Marrakesh and his viceroy went forth, disguised in torn and tattered garments. It was night, and they went to the marketplace to ask for alms from the Moslems who frequented the place. But no man gave them anything. They met one Jewish peddler, whose merchandise was old clothes, boots, and bottles, and he gave them one old coin. They had barely had time to thank him for his kindness when they heard an Arab woman say: “Jewish peddler! Come here! I have something to sell you!”
The Jewish peddler went to her, and immediately the woman tried to seduce him. “This we may not do for it is forbidden by the Torah (Scriptures) we live by and isn’t it forbidden by the Koran!” The woman let out a loud cry, and the Jewish peddler ran away.
The woman raised her voice and began to accuse the Jewish peddler falsely. “This Jewish peddler came to seduce me. He insulted me and attacked me.” The king and his viceroy heard the cries: “Come here Moslems and see what Jewish peddlers can do!“
Soon people who heard the cries of the woman gathered and attacked the Jewish peddler. Who can tell what might have been the fate of the unfortunate peddler had the king and the viceroy not come forward and suggested: “Leave him alone! Do not kill him, “ Some answered, “This Jewish peddler is an evildoer and should be burned alive in the market place. Take him to the king for judgment. Let all the Jewish peddlers witness his burning and let them learn from his misdeeds!” The king reminded all present, “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20) from the king.
The Jewish peddler was led to the king’s palace for trial. In the mean-time he was placed in prison.
On the day of the trial a large crowd of people, men, women and children, gathered to see how the infidel would be tried for having insulted an Arab woman.
The king opened the trial saying: “Tell me all about the matter, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
The woman began, saying that the Jewish peddler had attacked her and wished to violate her.
“Have you any witnesses?” the king asked her.
And the entire multitude shouted: “We are the witnesses! We saw all that came to pass! All that the woman has said is true.”
“I believe you,” the king said. “But tell me, do I see rightly at this moment, camels laden high with merchandise in the heavens? Do I see rightly?”
The people stared up into the sky and shouted: “It is true, our lord the king! There are camels laden with merchandise in the heavens.”
“Count me the camels,“ the king commanded them.
The entire multitude looked up into the heavens. One shouted five camels, another seven and a third ten. Every man declared a different number.
“It is well,” said the king. “Let it be as you have said.” And then, turning to the Jewish peddler, he said: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens and count the camels.”
The Jewish peddler stared into the sky but, of course, could see nothing.
“I believe what you have said, my lord the king,” he said. “I believe that you have seen camels laden with merchandise in the heavens, but I cannot see anything.”
The king turned once again to the multitude. “Look up into the heavens again. See if there are any stars there, though it is the full light of day. I pray you, count them for me!”
All those that were gathered there raised their eyes to the heavens and cried out: “It is true! There are stars in the heavens!” And one said “Five stars” and the other “Seven stars” and a third “Ten stars”. Each one of them declared a different number.
Then the king turned again to the Jewish peddler: “You, too, look up in-to the heavens! How many stars can -you see?”
The Jewish peddler did as he was bidden and looked up into the heavens, but he could see nothing.
“My lord the king,” he said. “I believe what you have said. But I am not able to see even a single star.”
The king took out of his pocket the worn penny he had been given by the Jewish peddler, when he was disguised and roaming the marketplace together with his viceroy. “Look at this coin,” he said to the Jewish peddler. “Is it of silver or of copper?”
Said the Jewish peddler: “It is of silver, my lord. It is good silver. It may well have been mine, a coin that I spent.”
“You are right,“ said the king. “It was yours. This coin you gave in charity to two poor men, just before this incident occurred.” The king continued, “These are the things that you shall do: speak the truth with your neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” (Zech 8:16)
Then the king and his viceroy brought the perjured witnesses to judgment. Each one of them was given many years in the royal prison and the woman who had falsely accused the Jewish peddler they sentenced to death for lying, gossip and dishonor ti Islam and trhe king. The Jewish peddler they found innocent.
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
Click here for more storytelling resources
Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)
Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us
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Listening and Justice
Listen to the cases between one person and another, and judge righteously between every man and stranger among you. (Deuteronomy 1:16)
Everything is written in the Holy Scriptures, and a person who bases his conduct and lifestyle on its teachings is fortunate.
There once were two merchants, one Jewish and one not, and they came before the village rabbi to settle a monetary dispute. The non-Jewish merchant claimed that the Jewish merchant had borrowed money from him, but the Jewish merchant denied that he owed him anything. The holy rabbi sensed that the non-Jewish merchant was truthful.
After hearing both sides’ arguments, he told them he had to leave for a few minutes and asked them to discuss the matter between themselves in the meantime.
Both merchants had gone to the local synagogue, and both thought that the holy rabbi had left.
But in truth, the holy rabbi had not left. He had gone up into the women’s section and was listening to every word both of the merchants were saying.
A heated argument erupted between them, and the holy rabbi heard the non-Jewish merchant shouting at the Jewish merchant, “Are you not ashamed of yourself? You know very well that you borrowed the money from me, and how can you claim that you don’t owe me anything?”
“It’s true that I borrowed money from you,” the Jewish merchant responded, “but I am under a lot of financial stress right now, and I don’t have the money to pay you back.”
The holy rabbi went back down into the synagogue and ruled in favor of the non-Jewish merchant, rebuking the Jewish merchant for his contemptible behavior.
Later, he explained that he had derived the strategy of leaving the merchants alone and listening to their conversation from the direction of, “Hear the cases between one person and another and judge righteously between every man and stranger among you, (Deuteronomy 1:16) implies that in order to judge fairly, a judge has to listen to what both sides say to each other.
The simple meaning of the verse is that a judge has to listen to both sides equally and not give preferential treatment to one side. For we learn to “Execute truth, justice, and peace within your gates” (Zech. 8:16)
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
Click here for more storytelling resources
Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)
Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling; click here to contact us.
Please share this story with family and friends and let us know your thoughts or feelings about the stories in a comment or two.
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Look Favorably on Another
We speak and learn so much about religion, values, prayer, and ritual, yet forget the important aspects of faith. To live by the standards established in the holy words of the T’NaCh (Scriptures). We should look upon all around us favorably and give them the benefit of the doubt.
Once upon a time, a religious man ransomed a beautiful woman from imprisonment, and when they came to the inn in the evening, he put the young woman to sleep at the foot of his bed. In the morning, he immersed himself in the purifying waters, and then he went to teach his students. While he was teaching them, he asked his students, “Did you suspect me of anything last night when you saw the young maiden lying at the foot of my bed?” They answered, “We did not suspect you of anything; we thought that you put her near you because you had among your students one whom you did not know, and you would not let her sleep in a separate room for fear that harm might come to her.”
Then the religious man asked, “Why did you think I went in the morning and immersed in the purifying waters?”
“What else do you believe we could have thought,” replied his students, “except that probably on the way you had touched something unclean, which made it necessary for you to immerse in the purifying waters?”
Then he said, “I swear that it was exactly as you thought. And as for you – as you judged me on the scale of merit, so may He who is everywhere judge you on the scale of merit.
We learn “You shall not unjustly judge… with justice you shall judge your neighbor..” (Lev. 19:15). The classic commentators explain this to mean “judge your fellowman favorably and interpret his actions and words only to the good.” (Sefer HaChinuch 235)
Based on B. Shabbos 127b and Ma’asah Book #21
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
Click here for more storytelling resources
Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)